The study urges doctors to consider potential neurological symptoms when diagnosing new patients.
Patients with COVID-19 have suffered strokes and other neurological symptoms, according to the first scientific study to analyse the effects of the disease on the brain.
The study found that neurological effects were seen in just over a third of all cases of hospitalised COVID-19 patients, but affected more than 45% of those with severe infections.
It isn't yet clear if the coronavirus is causing the strokes directly or as a result of the body's inflammatory response, and leading neurologists say more research is needed.
They warn that as well as respiratory symptoms, doctors need to consider potential neurological effects when assessing new patients.
The study was carried out by researchers at Huazhong University in Wuhan, and the Barrow Neurological Institute in Arizona.
The team analysed cases in Wuhan in China, the original epicentre of the outbreak, between 16 January and 19 February - including 214 hospitalised patients whose diagnoses were laboratory-confirmed.
Just over a third of these patients, 78 (36.4%), had neurological symptoms as well as respiratory symptoms.
#NISI #Locum #Doctors #Nurses #HCA's #Hospitals #NHS #coronovirus